Mill LA Stimulate Senses for Wrigley

The Mill LA and long-time collaborator, Director Dante Ariola, showcase their talents for an epic branding campaign for Wrigley’s 5, via three extreme adventures. Appealing to the teen demographic, the groundbreaking spots, feel almost like trailers for the next action-packed blockbuster film of the summer. The effects are equally impressive and cinematic, surpassing anything seen before for the Wrigley’s brand.

Promising a gum which stimulates the senses, the spots are set in sci-fi like fantasy worlds, each with characters who seek an experience out of the ordinary. Created under The Mill LA roof by a team of well-established Mill stafff, the campaign was sled by flame Artist/Supervisor Chris Knight and CG Artist/Supervisor Rob Petrie, who were both instrumental in evoking the thrill-seeking attitude throughout the spots.

The visual effects highlight of the campaign is a spot entitled “Cobalt” for the same-named cooling peppermint flavor. This elaborate and time-consuming spot relied on an entirely CG environment for a percentage of the shots. Referencing the original design of the set, Rob and his team replicated the environment in its entirety, maintaining authentic lighting and texturing. The 3D team met the challenges of modeling both the tubing and the gyroscope, to compensate for the fact that a handful of the moves were, in fact, physically impossible to capture in camera. In addition to seamlessly integrating the CG elements, Chris gave the spot its chilly feel, enhancing the main character goose bumps, inserting ice throughout the fans and adding cold frosty air.

Another larger-than-life spot in the campaign is ‘Rain’, in which a man bathes in a pulsating sea of ball bearings to promote the tingling spearmint flavor. For this spot set designers consulted with The Mill supervisors, Chris and Rob, to fashion a miniature model of the platform that was fifteen times smaller than the finished version. From there, Chris and Rob calculated a mathematical formula to generate an exact distance between the camera and the model. First crafting a set measuring one quarter of the full-scale set and then lining it up perfectly with the miniature set, the Mil LA team was able to generate a final composite with dimensions completely equivalent to human scale.

Also of interest was the creation of the weathered speakers that generate the energetic beat in the spot. Chris and Rob worked with Designer Christopher Glass, whose character design can be seen on the award-winning Johnny Walker ?‚àö√ë‚àö‚â§Human’s (VFX: The Mill, Director: Dante Ariola) and whose storyboard art blueprinted the design of ?‚àö√ë‚àö‚â§Spiderman 3’s. From 2D drawings, the set design team modeled a live speaker, which was then rendered by Rob and his team in 3D. The 3D renders then went back to Christopher who worked drawings back over the speakers. Using stained concrete and rusted metal reference, the effects team achieved an industrial feel through a unique process. Chris then enhanced the filmic style of the spot with set extension, rig removal and detailed compositing of 3D elements, such as the animated speakers timed perfectly to match the beat of the audio.

The final spot for the warming cinnamon flavor, ‘Flare’, is an unusual take on the intensity of heat. The spot demonstrates the ambitious fall from a rip cord, as a woman is suddenly held mid-air by countless hairdryers. From a hundred hairdryers, the Mill 3D team recreated the scene to include thousands, which were then composited by the 2D team back into the live action shots. Moreover, Chris and his team added atmospheric heat haze and intensified the red force of the hairdryers.

The sugarless gum differs from other Wrigley products, promising a brief intense, oral stimulation. The packaging, a thin cardboard box which features etching that glows under black light, alongside this powerful ad launch gives the gum the momentum be a stylish brand.